Healthy Recipes

howie6267

Stacy mentioned maybe sharing some good recipes so I will start it off.

Balsamic Vinegar Sauce over chicken and sauteed veggies serves two.

Per Serving: Calories: 794 Carbs: 41 Fat: 36 Protein: 71 Sodium: 1248 Fiber: 9

6 chicken breast halves depending on size or 12 ounces per serving.
1 onion
16 oz of raw spinach
1 bell pepper
1/4 cup Cilantro
1 cup mushrooms
1 clove garlic
4 tbls olive oil
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup water

prep: 15 minutes
total: 40 minutes

Sauce
Whisk together balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, kosher salt and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Gently simmer the sauce for 20-25 minutes, until it thickens and reduces down 1/4 cup or so. Take it off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes serving.

Fry or bake your chicken breast.

Saute veggies in pan with olive oil adding spinach toward end so that it wilts but does not get overcooked.

Put chicken over veggies and then pour sauce over dish.

TJ_Gauthier

Howie, that sounds awesome! I might try that tonight.

Does anyone here use Evernote? It's a note taking app that goes on any smart phone or tablet and is backed up online, so you can get to it on a computer. If you don't, you should! They also have a sibling app called Evernote Food. It takes recipes from your Evernote and puts it in a nice, neat cookbook right on your phone or tablet.

TJ_Gauthier

This recipe is from Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution. He simply calls it Chicken and Cauliflower. I modified mine, because I honestly couldn't figure out exactly how I was supposed to cook it.

Chicken and Cauliflower

Ingredients:
-1 tbsp olive oil
-2 pounds chicken thighs or breast, cubed(stew meat style)
-1 head of cauliflower
-8 oz El Pato tomato sauce(There are 3 kinds with varying heat. Red is the milder, green is jalapeno,
and yellow is the hotter one. I like to use the yellow or green)
-2 cans of regular tomato sauce
-1 red bell pepper
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp thyme
-1/2 tsp garlic powder

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in either a large skillet or soup pot. Brown the chicken. Meanwhile, chop the cauliflower into small pieces and add to the pot. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot, then reduce to medium-low. Cover and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

angelaneale

Carrot Cake Smoothie

This was my first attempt at this recipe this morning. I think that more vanilla and cream cheese, less milk, some type of sweetener, and maybe some shredded coconut would've made it much better. Here's what I put in there:

3 carrots
3 raw brazil nuts
1/4 tsp organic vanilla extract
nutmeg
cinnamon
1 c. whole milk
1 Tbsp full fat cream cheese
pinch of Real Salt
Whole raw egg (including the shell)
few cubes of ice
1 Tbsp Great Lakes Gelatin (stirred in after the smoothie was blended)

angelaneale

Last night I threw together this recipe out of laziness. I did not want to take the time to stuff individual mushrooms so I made this Unstuffed Shrooms recipe and it was really good! Most ingredient measurements are estimated.

1lb pastured hot ground italian sausage
1 clove chopped garlic
1/4 chopped red onion
3 Tbsp full fat cream cheese
1 large container slided white button mushrooms
small handful of fresh parsley
1 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 fresh eggs
himalayan sea salt (to taste)
2 Tbsp mayo
coconut oil (to grease pan)

Add mushrooms to greased pan. Brown the meat and drain the grease. Add all other ingredients (only 3/14 c up the cheese) to the meat and mix. Add meat mixture to the mushrooms. Top with rest of shredded cheese and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

TJ_Gauthier

Angela, that sounds really good. Here's one that I've made twice in a weeks time, because my wife and I love it. It calls for steak, but I opted to use breakfast sausage. I wanted to use chorizo, but Wal-Mart didn't have any, and I'm an incredibly lazy shopper.

Paleo Breakfast Skillet

Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb. steak, cut into bite sized pieces (I used top sirloin)
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite sized cubes (about 4 cups)
- 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small white onion, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. bacon fat/lard or tallow
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
- 6 large eggs
- 1 small tomato, sliced

Equipment:
- Large cast iron skillet
- Cutting board
- Vegetable peeler
- Kitchen knife
- Stirring spoon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the lard or tallow in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped steak and cook until just browned and set aside (remember you will be baking the skillet in the oven later so that steak will have more time to cook).
2. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of lard or tallow to the skillet and and the chopped onion and bell peppers. Saute for about 3-5 minutes. Add the chopped sweet potatoes and saute about 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the steak to the skillet and stir everything to combine. Remove from heat and make 6 indentations in the mixture with the back of your stirring spoon. Crack an egg into each indent, place the sliced tomatoes around the eggs, and place sprinkle the entire skillet with the sea salt and ground black pepper.
4. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 12 minutes (or until eggs are cooked to your liking). Remove from oven and serve.

http://www.paleocupboard.com/breakfast-skillet.html

montana_girl

Made a fairly good smoothie on Saturday... This smoothie kept me feeling full for over 6 hours and I am one of those people that is always hungry!

Green Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie

5 oz spinach
**2/3 cup of Vanilla whey protein powder
**1/2 oz cocoa powder, unsweetened
**2 tbsp. xylitol
6 oz frozen raspberries
1 cup boiling water

Instructions
1.Place the spinach, whey powder, cocoa powder, xylitol, and raspberries in the blender in the order listed.
2.Pour the boiling water over the raspberries in the blender.
3.Blend on high speed until completely smooth.

** When I make this again, I am going use a lot less protein powder, a little less cocoa powder, and use stevia to taste.

TJ_Gauthier

Hey guys! I just wanted to drag this thread back up. It needs more content!

We tried this recipe, last week, and it was REALLY good. Then only thing I would change: Add BACON!

Stuffed Zucchini

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:

3 tsp olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
8 oz mushrooms, diced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp whole-wheat bread crumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 zucchini, halved, seeds and pulp removed

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Prepare stuffing: In a large saute pan on medium-high, heat 1 tsp oil. Add garlic, onion and mushrooms. Sauté until mushrooms soften, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining 2 tsp oil, vinegar, bread crumbs and Parmesan. Mix thoroughly.
Spoon an equal amount of stuffing into each zucchini half. Bake on a foil-lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes.
Nutrients per 1/2 stuffed zucchini: Calories: 110, Total Fat: 5 g, Sat. Fat: 1 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g, Carbs: 12 g, Fiber: 2 g, Sugars: 5 g, Protein: 5 g, Sodium: 135 mg, Cholesterol: 2 mg

From Clean Eating Magazine
http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/budget-recipes/stuffed-zucchini/

TJ_Gauthier

Here's a really good salad dressing that I can NOT get enough of! By that, I mean that I went out of my way to get a salad, just to have something to put it on!

Greek Dressing

* 1 cup red wine vinegar
* 3/4 cup olive oil
* 1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
* 2 teaspoons dried basil
* 2 teaspoons dried oregano
* 2 teaspoons garlic powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1-1/2 teaspoons pepper

I thought it had too much vinegar, so I cut it back to 3/4 cup and left everything the same.

From All Recipes:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/absolutely-fabulous-greekhouse-dressing/?scale=15&ismetric=0

*Recipe note: The original recipe in the link is from a restaurant, so it yields nearly a gallon. If you change the servings amount to 15, it will yield about 12 ounces. The ingredient list above is for the reduced 15 serving recipe.

TJ_Gauthier

I tried this one last night. It's just chicken, so you'd need some kind of side. Maybe some rice, or something. I made a big ol' salad and put the chicken on top. I also made an avocado-lime dressing that went great with it (see next post).

Ingredients

* Boneless Chicken, 3 breasts
* Limes, 3 or 4
* Garlic, 4 to 6 cloves
* Olive Oil
* Cumin
* Cayenne or Chili Powder
* Cilantro, 1/4 cup, snipped
* Avocado, optional

Instructions

1. Mince the garlic, snip the cilantro and zest a lime. Juice the lime carcass along with two more limes. Cut a lime into wedges and slice and avocado for the table.
2. Cut the chicken into chunks. You can skip this and cook them whole but chunks cook faster.
3. Pour a little olive oil into a large skillet or saute pan, just enough to not quite cover the bottom. Heat it over medium high heat until it’s very hot, almost smoking. Add the chicken and let it cook undisturbed.
4. Once the chicken is browned nicely on the bottom and will easily let go of the pan, sprinkle it generously with cumin and chili powder or pepper. Let it cook another minute or two, until the white line has moved about halfway through the pieces.
5. Turn the chicken and let it cook another couple of minutes, long enough to brown. Reduce the heat to medium low and sprinkle in the garlic and lime zest. Stir it little and let it cook another couple of minutes but be careful not to let the garlic burn.
6. Once the chicken is cooked through add the lime juice and stir up all the browned goodness from the pan.
7. Remove the chicken to a bowl or platter and sprinkle it with cilantro.


From Inspired Dreamer:

http://inspiredreamer.com/quick-lime-cilantro-chicken/

TJ_Gauthier

This one can be made as a salad dressing or a sandwich spread.

Avocado - Lime Dressing or Spread

Ingredients

* 1 Avocado
* 1 Lime, juiced
* Jalapeno Juice
* Garlic powder
* Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1. Mash the avocado in a bowl with a whisk.
2. Add the lime juice and continue to whisk.
3. Add jalapeno juice, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.

You can leave it as is, to use as a spread, or add a little water to thin it out for a salad dressing.

carolssalva

Most awesome low carb cheese cake ever! And I didn't use the springform pan. Just regular pan and last time I made the in cupcake tins.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/desserts/r/lcarbcheesecake.htm

Hmrjmr1

No time today but will check back in this weekend. Good stuff here for sure.

TJ_Gauthier

Carol, I was hoping you'd post that here! Thanks!

beerbikegirl

I have been obsessed of late with Massaged Kale salads. Obsessed.

Chop up some fresh Kale into bite sized prices ( remove that woody stem down the middle of the leaf). About half a standard grocery sized bunch makes one big salad.

Place into a bowl large & deep enough to allow your hands and the Kale to fit easily in the bowl. I use a 2.5qt mixing bowl.

Sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt)

Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. (Plain is fine, but I also like flavored oil, using a mix of Garlic Olive Oil and Lemon Olive oil)

Get your clean hands in there and "massage" the salt and oil into the leaves. Typically the volume of the Kale gets halved.

Add juice of half lemon or so and massage some more.

Pop into your big salad bowl. Sprinkle with a liberal dose of a good shredded Parmesan for some extra umami.

Eat.

So so good.

Oh, the simple olive oil plus lemon juice is one of my fav salad dressings. I keep Sanat Cruz Organic Lemon juice in my fridge. Nice consistent acidity and easier than squeezing a lemon. Spinach/ mesclun mix with kalamata olives, avocado pieces and lemon/olive oil another fav fav salad.

Hmrjmr1

Gonna give it a go Kim. I've never been a big fn of salads in general but do like plain old lettuce this sounds close enough to give it a go. Thanks

aceronjr

If you don't have time to make your own tomato sauce, and looking for a good low carb off the shelf option ... try Rao's Homemade sauces from Rao's Specialty Foods, Inc. They only have 3-4g of net carbs per serving (1/2 cup). Their ingredient list are simple real foods, herbs and spices. For example: tomatoes, olive oil, onions, salt, garlic, basil, crushed red peppers, black pepper, oregano. That's it!

TJ_Gauthier

Hey everyone. We need some input in this thread! What's some good, healthy recipes you like?

Post 'em if ya got 'em!

I referenced this chicken in this weeks Chat and Accountability, so I figured I'd post up the "recipe". It's super simple.

Ingredients:

* Chicken breast
* Lemon pepper

Instructions:
I like to slice the chicken breast relatively thin, so it cooks faster. I slice it longways, like I'm slicing a bun, and if it's rather large, I'll cut that piece in half. After that, remove as much of the fat and pat it dry. Lay out the slices on a pan and sprinkle with lemon pepper. Flip and season the other side. Heat a black iron skillet to medium heat. (that's my preferred cookware, but you can use whatever) Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil, and place the fillets in. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side until done. I slice it thin enough to where when it starts to blacken on one side, I flip it and when it begins to blacken on that side, it's done. It's probably easier than I just made it sound, but I figured I'd share.

I also like to do the same thing with tilapia fillets, but they cook a lot faster, so make sure to watch them.

This recipe usually goes along with a salad with my Greek Salad Dressing I posted above. It's also super delicious with a little of that dressing drizzled on top.

angelaneale

We make this recipe at least a couple times a month. It's delicious and so easy to make.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

4 large chicken breasts
1 jar salsa (mild/med/hot) - we use mild
Salt/Pepper/Garlic Powder
Sour Cream

Season the chicken breasts (heavily) and add to the crockpot and cover with salsa. Set on low for 8 hours. Serve with Tbsp or so of sour cream.

This would be excellent on rice or with potatoes. I'm just too lazy to make other sides.

TJ_Gauthier

That sounds good. May have to try that soon.

imabizzybee

Angela, I do something similar to your crockpot salsa chicken, but add about 1/3 cup of peanut butter at the beginning. It sounds awful, but gets kind of like a Thai peanut sauce when it cooks.

carolssalva

Going to try the Kale thing Kim. Sounds yummy!

markd_cronenwett

Chicken Pizza

Use a 9x12 Casserole Dish.

Ton of spinach for the "crust"
3 or 4 Chicken Breasts, Shredded
1C of Sun Dried Tomato, or regular Tomato in slices
Olives, or Green Chilies, both, or not.. You pick
2C of Mozzerela Cheese

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Not quite full Paleo, with the cheese. One batch can feed me for a week of dinners.

TJ_Gauthier

Mark, that sounds good. Is the chicken precooked before you put it on your pizza? Do you just layer everything and then bake it?

It sounds super simple, which is awesome.

markd_cronenwett

I pre-cook the chicken, let it cool, then shred. Shredding gives it more bulk.

While the tomato in slices is good, the Sun Dried really make the flavors pop. Gads, I darn near want to make a batch now..

TJ_Gauthier

Okay, thanks. Does the spinach crisp up? And do you use metal or glass? Is the spinach canned, frozen, or fresh?

markd_cronenwett

You know TJ, I really messed up with posting that. That is what I get for assuming that everyone knows what I am saying The Spinach is fresh, and it cooks down; does not crisp up. Think Casserole style. It is a glass dish, Pyrex if I remember correctly.

TJ_Gauthier

Okay, great! That's no problem! Thanks Mark. I may try this one over the weekend.

I think I've talked about it on a check-in thread, so I risk sounding super fanboy-ish, but I LOVE my Pyrex. We have the set of casserole dishes with the lid, so you can just throw the whole thing if the fridge and not worry about transferring it or wrapping it in foil.

markd_cronenwett

Sadly the one I have left does not have a lid. I love it anyway. Reminder if you have tile counter tops.. do not put hot Pyrex on them. They are cold and it will shatter. Just a tip I need to get some new ones.

TJ_Gauthier

I was actually talking about that yesterday. I dropped a small one the other day, and it EXPLODED more than I've seen any glass. I think the properties of Pyrex make it transfer heat really different, so they're more prone to temp shocks. I usually place it on my flat-top stove. Either that's okay, or I've been lucky!

Walmart and Target both have a really good selection of them. This is the set we use for storage. The little green rectangle is the one I broke.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pyrex-12pc-Storage-Plus-Food-Storage-Set/16561608

carolssalva

This pizza sounds AWESOME Mark. Great that TJ asked all my questions!